Ron Arnold on Environmentalism and the
Wise Use (Anti-environmental) Movement
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Environmental Movement Challenges |
Dominant Western
Worldview |
Anti-Environmental Movement Accepts |
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Growth not= Betterment Unlimited growth not sustainable |
Unlimited economic growth is possible and beneficial |
Traditional growth is good and sustainable |
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Luddites? Technological Pessimists? Appropriate Technology Can technology solve
the problems of poverty, starvation, discrimination, crime, species
extinction, loss of wilderness, global warming? |
Most serious problems can be solved by technology |
Technological optimists Techno-fix mentality? Solve acidification
of lakes by dumping base compound into lakes?
Solve pollution problems by engineering species that can withstand the
pollution? |
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More skeptical of unregulated market’s consequences Need for Env. Regulations Free Market Environmentalism? |
Environmental and social problems can be mitigated by market economy with some state intervention |
Little government regulation of the market |
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Environmental
Paradigm |
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Yes; aim for Betterment |
Growth must be limited |
No |
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Why restrain science? Only env. Harmful technologies need to be limited Environmentally helpful technologies need to be encouraged |
Science and technology must be restrained |
Don’t believe this |
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Yes. |
Nature has finite resources |
Don’t believe this: A resource (not finite) is a natural object (finite) + work (not finite) |
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Nature knows best? Human intervention in nature is bad by definition? |
Nature has a delicate balance that humans should observe |
Balance of nature is a fiction Nature is not necessarily good |